CNOOC subsidiary， China Offshore Oil Engineering Co (COOEC)， has revealed plans to build a specialised pipe-laying vessel.

The company said that the pipelayer would be built by COOEC’s self-owned funds and the total investment would be around RMB 1，375，256，800 ($188.4). The board of directors has already given the go-ahead for the plan.

The vessel will mainly serve domestic waters， with the international market also taken into account. It will be able to lay sea pipes with a diameter of 4 to 60 inches as well as provide other services like double-node pipeline laying and submarine pipeline maintenance.

The vessel will be delivered in June 2028. No shipyard has been revealed. The Chinese firm believes that the payback period is 13.65 years which it believes indicates ‘good economic viability’.